328 



BIRDS. 



FIG. 356. NUTHATCH. 



FIG. 357. TREE CREEPER. 



The Nuthatches (Sitta) 

 have a medium-sized, de- 

 pressed, straight beak, which 

 is cylindrical, conical, and 

 cutting at the point. Their 

 tongue is short and very 

 slightly protractile. They 

 climb trees in all directions 

 in search of insects, and 

 nestle in their trunks. The 

 common European Nut- 

 hatch is of a bluish ash-co- 

 lour ; it is sedentary and 

 inhabits forest trees. The 

 male assists the female in 

 spring in the construction of 

 her nest. They establish 

 themselves in a hole in the 

 tree, and if the hole is too 

 large for them, they reduce 

 its size by plastering it with 

 mud, a habit that has ac- 

 quired for them their name 

 of " Mason Pie." They line 

 the interior with a thin bed 

 of moss, upon which the 

 female lays from five to 

 seven greyish eggs, speckled 

 with red spots. The young 

 escape from their shell 

 about the month of May, 

 and are very soon able to 

 provide for themselves. 

 These birds feed on grain 

 and seeds, more especially 

 flax-seed ; they likewise eat 

 beech-nuts and hazel-nuts, 

 the latter of which they fix 

 firmly in some crevice, and 

 then pierce them by repeat- 

 ed blows of their sharp beak. 

 The Creepers (Certhia) 

 have their beak compressed 

 and slender, more or less 

 bent like a bow, and trian- 

 gular; their tail is slanting, 

 and furnished with stiff 

 sharp quills, serving to 

 assist them in climbing 

 trees ; their tongue is sharp 

 and adapted for piercing in- 

 sects, upon which they feed. 



